Damascus is Ready to Discuss a New Syrian Constitution with Opposition in Geneva

On the eve of the next round of the Geneva talks on Syria, which is scheduled to begin on March 23, UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura decided to visit a number of countries to conduct official consultations and elaborate the details of the meeting. Thus, de Mistura has recently visited the Saudi capital, Riyadh. Today he met with the Russian Foreign Minister in Moscow, and, on March 23, the diplomat intends to hold consultations in Ankara. In addition, it is already known that all the invited parties confirmed their participation in the upcoming talks.
Despite the fact that preparation for the negotiation process is taking place against the background of ongoing fighting in eastern Damascus, hopefully the participants will be able to make significant progress in discussing certain issues, one of which is the development of a new Syrian constitution, during the next round of talks.
It should be mentioned that the official Damascus is ready to discuss the development of the new Syrian constitution with the opposition and the international community during the upcoming peace talks in Geneva. In addition, Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad, stands for setting up a constitutional commission at the country’s parliament. According to him, it will consider various issues related to the development of the Syria’s basic law.
He also approved the proposal to set up a working group in Geneva, which was presented by the Russian and European delegations, which were led by President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Pedro Agramunt, during their visit to Syria.
In addition, the Speaker of the People’s Council of Syria, Hadiya Abbas, called for the involvement of Russian experts in the process of drafting the future Constitution of Syria. At the same time, she estimated the decision to form a constitutional commission, adopted by Assad, as “the right one.” According to her, it fully fit the format of negotiations in Geneva and Astana. She stressed that the issue of adopting the Constitution of Syria is a privilege only of the Syrian people.
It is obvious that such statements of the official Damascus show its readiness to make every effort to restore peace in the country. The Syrian government is aware that the political process of resolving the crisis in the country can be developed only through close interaction and coordination with the opposition.